Help with hole in fuel tank!!

[bassmaniac69]

Well, I got home from work tonight, parked the bike and went inside to "you smell like fuel" from my wife. I thought I may have spilt some fuel on myself from filling up on the way home and thought nothing of it, until I went back into the garage 15 minutes later to discover a puddle of fuel under my bike.

First thoughts were that I had filled the tank up too much and it was being vented via the over flow tube, but then I noticed that the fuel was running down the right hand side of the bike and the vent tube is on the left. I noticed that my bagster tank bag was wet with petrol in the area that meets the seat, so I ripped it off and found the problem - a small weeping hole on the right had side of the tank, just where the knee section meets the seat section.

It seems that my tank bag has (on both sides) rubbed through the paint at the crease/junction and through the metal on the right hand side, allowing fuel to seep out

I'll be having a few words with the Bagster guys here in OZ, as you can imagine!

I've ripped the tank off and propped it up to avoid any more spillage and m now wondering what to do. My gut feeling says new tank or fix, but I am aware that both of these options are fairly expensive but may be the only way to go....

I have put out some feelers via Findapart for a second hand unit but I was hoping that the combined genius (or is than genui?) of this forum may have an idea of something I could do and that would be relatively cheap to do!

Of course, if anyone has a tank for an 03 Z1000 I'd be glad to hear about it!

I should mention that I just moved up to QLD from the ACT and this was the first time I had filled it up since then, the tank was 1/2 full when I got here and I only just used it up. So a temp fix of fixing it up and only running a small amount of fuel until I can get a new tank is not out of the question to keep me running on the road. Of course, a cheap permanent fix would also be cool.....

Cheers!

[robracer]

One option could be Liquid metal..... available from supacheep, Dry the wound over a day or so.... kneed up the 2 parts & smear on the offending hole & let dry OVERNIGHT! this should get you out of trouble till you find a proper fix

[6maniac]

Very short term fix is either soap or chewing gum applied externally.

[dave#3]

I'd go with the liquid metal then line the tank with tank creeme. The liquid metal should give you something non-porous to seal against and the tank creeme should seal the the tank. It'll take a couple of days to finish the tank but it's got to be cheaper than a replacement. Perhaps some gaffer tape over the other side to prevent further damage to it too.

When you get a chance I'd love to see a picture of the damage - I'm just amazed that a bagster bag would wear through your tank like that.

[Troy Pearson]

Yeah Bassman, what Rob said is the go! Its called Knead-it!! A small tube. You are better off rubbing the tank back to bare metal to make sure you kave a nice clean surface so the metal will key into it. Make sure there is no chance of fuel or vapours getting through into the crack and upsetting the bond. I would use a 400 to 600 grit sand paper for a good keyed surface and clean up with acetone as it will not leave any residue for the Knead-it.

I have used this stuff on a bike of mine and managed to file it down to the correct profile and paint it up. It looked like new.

Your other option is to look into a few mags or google for a repair shop that can weld the fix.


Good luck,


Troy

[Rusty]

What Dave#3 said.

Only thing is, I'd use POR-15. I've used it on a couple of tanks, and it's TOPS. For pin-prick holes you can actually dab it on with a paintbrush on the outside to seal the hole before running it over the inside. It's completely impervious to every solvent I've tried, so once it's opened it has to be used pretty quick. The last lot I used cost me about $70, which is ever so slightly cheaper than a new tank.

[Neilp]

Can you do a photo of the leak, is it right on the bottom seam of the tank. It may burn a bit of paint off but a more permanant fix would be to weld it. Would need to see photos, or the tank itself. Which side of Brissie are you on?



Neil

[Head_Mechanic]

clean and dry the area around the leak then use Devcon putty . This can be obtained from engineering supply shops. It's not cheap but work a treat. most of the seams in my tank are covered with Devcon .

[robracer]

Can you do a photo of the leak, is it right on the bottom seam of the tank. It may burn a bit of paint off but a more permanant fix would be to weld it. Would need to see photos, or the tank itself. Which side of Brissie are you on?Neil

mmm yep if you can get rid of all traces of fuel first, hate to see the farker go up.

[Neilp]

Can you do a photo of the leak, is it right on the bottom seam of the tank. It may burn a bit of paint off but a more permanant fix would be to weld it. Would need to see photos, or the tank itself. Which side of Brissie are you on?Neil

mmm yep if you can get rid of all traces of fuel first, hate to see the farker go up.

No problem just fill it with water, or an inert gas!

[JetPilot]

I thought that somebody would have said "tank foam" by now.

[bassmaniac69]

Hey all! Thanks for the quick and numerous replies - I knew that I could count on you guys!

I've done a bit more research and have decided that I will try the Devcon first - my mate in Canberra has used the stuff to great success and as it's an external fix then I thought I would try that first. It should work as the hole is just a pin head size so it won't take too much of the stuff I hope.

I did try the chewing gum fix but it just came straight off. Pity, as that was an easy fix!!

If that's no good then it's either welding the tank or the kreme style fix. I have found a system called KBS that looks pretty good, is sold locally and only is about $60 or so. So much cheaper than a tank by far.

The best quote for a new tank was approx $2300 here in OZ. One freighted in from the US is about $1400...so either way both expensive and money that I could have spent on a PC3, tune etc! Doh!!

This is the bikes way of telling me I should not have thought about selling it and getting something else...I sure as hell can;t sell it now until it's fixed anyway. Funny thing is is that I had decided to keep it for at least another year anyway then this happens! Bitch!! LOL

I'll post up a few pics tomorrow so you can see whats happened. I need to take some to send to the Bagster guys as well, so it will kill two birds with one stone!

Keep the comments coming anyway!

[bassmaniac69]

Can you do a photo of the leak, is it right on the bottom seam of the tank. It may burn a bit of paint off but a more permanant fix would be to weld it. Would need to see photos, or the tank itself. Which side of Brissie are you on?



Neil

Neil - I am in Taigum, just next to Boondall. I only just moved here from the ACT - much bloody warmer I can tell ya!!

Are you a store or able to do the repair? Forgive my ignorance of course....

I have the tank off ready to drain it tomorrow, if you are a store or such I can bring the tank around for you to have a look at. I will have some photo's soon as well if that helps!

As for the paint, there's already a small bit off on both sides so more won't be a problem at all - I can always get it repainted as well or get some custom brush work done to cover it! Any recommendations on painters here in Brissie while on thinking of it??

Cheers,

Lawrence

[bonester]

If the bagster has rubbed your tank through I hope they cough up for another tank!

[bassmaniac69]

If the bagster has rubbed your tank through I hope they cough up for another tank!

Thats what I'm thinking!!!! I'm going to try but I doubt it!